Previews

Tom Clancy's HAWX

During our time on the stick, we flew quite a few missions in two of HAWX's 20 maps. Adder is a map based in Afghanistan with all of the dunes and oil derricks that you might expect to find in a besieged Middle Eastern battlefield. Although the detail holds up very well in Adder, complete with gas pipes spewing flames after taking fire, you may not have much attention to spare gazing at the sights when you've got a wing of enemy jet fighters jockeying for a lock on you. Still, it was surprising to see so much detail on the ground textures and they maintained a sharp and crisp appearance even when flying extremely close.

Wildhorse is set in the skies above Cape Canaveral and features a futuristic space shuttle as its centerpiece. What is intriguing about Wildhorse in particular is that it's another example of how HAWX dovetails with the rest of the Tom Clancy fiction (the videogame fiction, at any rate).

The Story of Maverick and Goose

What sets HAWX apart from rivals like Ace Combat 6 is the attention paid to developing its plot in conjunction with those of previous and future Clancy titles. It has already been revealed that the first mission involves providing close air support for a holed-up Scott Mitchel, field commander of the Ghosts of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, but there are more missions in which other brushes with Clancy greatness will be possible.

As hinted above, the objective of the single-player mission in Wildhorse is to protect the space shuttle and its delicate payload of a satellite. This satellite is destined to be plugged into the new missile defense system that provides the motivation for Tom Clancy's EndWar. These are just a couple of examples of how HAWX will tie together multiple threads across the Tom Clancy franchise, and more are expected as the game's release approaches.

Level 60 Pilot

HAWX relies on an experience point system of sorts for delivering a degree of character progression. Primarily, these points can be exchanged for access to new and more effective jets. You earn experience points for every kill and accomplished objective, but these points all go into the same experience pool which is shared between the single-player campaign and multiplayer, so no matter which activity you choose, you'll always be earning points towards new gear.

Primed for launch in the first quarter of 2009, HAWX already feels like it's got a good handle on modern air combat. While it seems decidedly canted towards a more action-oriented arcade experience rather than a hardcore flight sim, the cinematic perspectives and fairly intuitive controls seem to provide worthwhile gameplay. It means something that, while engaged with others in risky dog fighting and high-g maneuvers, there's precious little time to stop and enjoy the stunning ground textures. Even about a half-year away from its release, HAWX already beautifully simulates the experience of jinking a missile, which is great because based on our time with it, you'll be doing that a lot.